Mulayam wins confidence vote

The confidence motion tabled by chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was passed with voice vote on Monday, with the state opposition staying away from proceedings. While BSP MLAs had resigned earlier from their membership of the House, Congress legislators followed suit on Monday and forwarded their resignation to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, reports Our Political Bureau in Lucknow.

The BJP, which provided some “legitimacy” to the session, too staged a walkout as soon as the chief minister tabled the motion. With the opposition benches vacant, the confidence motion was unanimously in favour of the government. Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey has reconvened the House on March 12.

Earlier in the day, all 15 Congress MLAs and one BJP MLA, Puran Singh Bundeal who joined the party on Monday morning, had forwarded their resignations to the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, state unit’s legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari told reporters.

The Congress and Jan Morcha also separately gheraoed the Vidhan Sabha building calling the session “illegal” and the continuation of the Yadav government “unconstitutional“.

Addressing the party workers, Mr Pramod Tiwari said that they will boycott the assembly proceedings as the SP government had become unconstitutional after the apex court disqualified the group of 13 breakaway BSP MLAs.

“The SP managed to get the confidence motion passed illegally as it also included the support of the 24 breakaway BSP MLAs, who by interpretation of the SC ruling cannot vote in favour of the Yadav government.”

He pointed out that the confidence motion was also declared passed on the basis of support by the 10 BJP MLAs and 3 RLD MLAs against whom the respective parties had petitioned the Speaker to disqualify them.

State Congress president Salman Khurshid said the SP and BJP had a covert understanding and were helping each other inside the assembly. Similar charges were echoed by Jan Morcha leader and former prime minister VP Singh, who said the BJP and SP had a tacit understanding as they both stand to gain from polarisation of votes on communal lines in the forthcoming assembly elections.

JM president Raj Babbar said by participating in the initial assembly proceedings, the BJP had actually helped the unconstitutional Yadav government.